Perspective
After a long, busy day at work running on very little sleep, I had to force myself to attend tonight’s AWBW Donor Development Committee meeting.
At one point during the meeting, out of nowhere, I was near tears.
We were going over the numbers for our Donor Pyramid, a chart that details the number of donors at different levels of giving (e.g., $1-$99, $100-$249, etc.,). We noticed the drastic drop in donors at the $500-$999 level… and I just about lost it.
It had nothing to do with the decrease in numbers; overall we improved from last year.
Rather, it made me think about what I did at work all day… working with numbers in an entirely different way…
And then I thought about the mission of my work project vs. the mission of AWBW.
Work:
Implement a robust, shared, multi-dimensional automated solution to facilitate data management, storage, analysis, and decision-making abilities, enabling HV Planning & Finance to operate as a strategic business partner.
AWBW:
A Window Between Worlds (AWBW) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to using art to help end domestic violence. Through creative expression, battered women and children gain a sense of renewal and power. Their images of hope, survival and strength educate the public and become “a window between worlds” for survivors taking steps to change their lives.
Hmm….
Now, don’t get me wrong. I have made a choice to do what I do right now. And that’s OK. It pays the bills, and as long as I’m there, I will give it my all.
But still… I couldn’t help but think of the difference I could make “giving it my all” by expending energy on something that truly excites me.
A few months ago, at a team meeting, my manager had each of us bullet point our motivators on a whiteboard as part of a team development session. My answer: Knowing That What I’m Doing Is Making A Difference.
What am I doing that makes a difference? I spend how many work hours a week doing… WHAT? I suppose everyone goes this through several times, if not many, throughout their lifetime, but all of this running through my head at a meeting with 10 Committee members present was a bit overwhelming.
Anyways, it’s food for thought. And something I will note as I continue this journey of figuring out what it is that will make me happy and allow me to live comfortably.
For now, I guess I’ll give it my all on this Committee… remembering my thoughts in a recent entry:
Being on this Committee reminds me that raising money to help heal one’s spirit is much more important than making money for The Man.
I came home and immediately set my Personal Goals for the Committee. One of them is to recruit 10-15 more donors. I’ll be posting notices about events to benefit AWBW, so stay tuned!
January 11th, 2006 at 1:18 pm
sometimes in life you have to sit back and reevaluate everything that’s going on around you. i think the most important thing to remember - WORK IS WORK - what you choose to do outside of that to ensure your happiness will give you more passion in your daily life. at least you are strong enough to recognize that who you are is not indicative of your career choice. but, you and i do have a similar flaw, we want to make our passion mesh with our career choice, and sometimes that doesn’t necessarily go together. i’m “good” at lots of things, one of them being my job, but i try not to let it get to me (although that is a very arduous process), but the other things i am good at (say for instance, scrapbooking, organizing events for other people), i do try to enjoy them while i can. i know it’s hard.
DOESN’T IT SUCK BEING A GROWN UP?
Love ya, sis. Don’t stress yourself too much about it.
January 12th, 2006 at 12:57 pm
It’s important to remember that successful people like you allow foundations like this to exist.